From Bali airport to Ubud is about 37 km and costs IDR 280,000 to 550,000 for the car, US$17 to US$33, whether you take Grab, the fixed-price airport taxi or a driver booked ahead. The drive takes anywhere from 50 minutes to two and a half hours, and the hour you leave decides it far more than the option you pick.
The road runs through five stretches, and they do not jam at the same hour. Fares and times checked in September 2026.
On this page
Time your drive
| Stretch | Km | Bottleneck | 8pm to 6am | 3pm to 8pm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airport to Sanur | 12 | The bypass, four lanes and every truck in the south | 15 to 20 min | 30 to 45 min |
| Tohpati junction | 5 | Where the bypass meets the road north, the worst light on the trip | 5 to 8 min | 15 to 25 min |
| Batubulan to Sukawati | 9 | Two lanes through the stone carving and silver villages | 12 to 18 min | 25 to 40 min |
| Mas and Peliatan | 7 | Woodcarvers, school runs and temple processions | 10 to 12 min | 15 to 25 min |
| Into central Ubud | 4 | The one-way loop around the palace and Monkey Forest Road | 5 to 8 min | 10 to 20 min |
How long does it take from Bali airport to Ubud?
An hour at night, an hour and a half on a normal day, over two hours in the late afternoon. And the clock starts at the kerb, not when the wheels touch down.
Denpasar airport to Ubud distance
About 37 km, which Google Maps will happily price at fifty minutes. The route runs north on the Ngurah Rai bypass past Sanur, turns inland at the Tohpati junction, then climbs gently through Batubulan, Celuk, Sukawati, Mas and Peliatan before it reaches the centre of Ubud. There is no toll road going that way. Once you leave the bypass, it is two lanes of village high street almost the whole way, shared with scooters, trucks and the odd temple procession.
Some drivers take the coastal Ida Bagus Mantra road instead when Tohpati is backed up, and cut inland further east. It is a few kilometres longer and often quicker at rush hour. Let them choose.
Photo BxHxTxCx, CC BY-SA 2.0
Bali airport to Ubud travel time, by the hour you leave
Between 8pm and 6am the road clears and the drive takes 50 minutes to an hour. Morning and midday come in at 1 hour 15 to just under 2 hours. The bad window is 3pm to 8pm, when commuters leaving Denpasar, school traffic in the villages and the one-way loop in central Ubud all jam at once. That can take 2 hours 30 or more.
Before any of that comes the airport itself. Allow 45 minutes to an hour and a half between the aircraft door and the car, more if you land in the midday or late-night rush. The Bali airport arrival guide times each queue, and an e-VOA bought before the flight is the one thing that reliably shortens them.
Bali airport to Ubud price: taxi, Grab or private transfer
Per car, not per person. For two people the three options sit within about US$10 of each other, so the choice comes down to the hour and the bags.
| Option | Sedan, up to 3 | Van or XL | Where you meet it | At night |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grab or Gojek | IDR 280k to 400k | IDR 400k to 550k | Pickup zone in the parking building | Surges after 10pm |
| Airport taxi counter | IDR 350k to 450k | IDR 500k to 650k | Counter in arrivals, then a car | Same fixed price |
| Private transfer | IDR 350k to 550k | IDR 550k to 750k | Inside arrivals, name board | Same price, waits for you |
IDR 100,000 is roughly US$6, so IDR 400k is about US$24. Grab adds an airport pickup fee of IDR 10,000 to 15,000. Checked September 2026.
Denpasar airport to Ubud taxi fare: the fixed-price counter
Once you are through customs, the airport taxi counter in the arrivals hall sells rides at a fixed price for each zone. Ubud costs IDR 350,000 to 450,000 in a sedan, US$21 to US$27, and IDR 500,000 to 650,000 in a minivan. You pay at the counter, by card or cash, get a ticket and are walked to the car. There is no meter and nothing to negotiate, and the price does not change at 2am.
The men between customs and the exit asking "transport, taxi?" are a different thing. Some are licensed, some are not, and they open at IDR 500,000 or more for Ubud. You can haggle them down to roughly the counter price, but there is no reason to. Blue Bird, the metered taxi company, drops passengers at departures but is restricted from picking up at arrivals, so do not count on one.
Grab or Gojek from Bali airport to Ubud
Both apps are legal at Ngurah Rai, and a standard car to Ubud usually prices at IDR 280,000 to 400,000, US$17 to US$24, before the small airport fee. The catch is the pickup. Drivers cannot stop at the arrivals kerb, so you walk five to ten minutes with your bags to the ride-hailing zone in the parking building opposite the international exit. Set that zone as your pickup point in the app, not your GPS dot.
You also need data the moment you land to book. An eSIM such as Airalo's Indonesia plan connects while the plane taxis in, so you can order the car from the immigration queue. Partner link.
Grab is the cheapest car to Ubud during the day by a clear margin. After 10pm, and whenever it rains, surge pricing pushes it to IDR 350,000 to 500,000, level with the counter or a booked driver.
Bali airport to Ubud private transfer
A driver booked ahead tracks your flight, waits in the arrivals hall with your name on a board and keeps waiting if immigration takes an hour. For a sedan to Ubud expect IDR 350,000 to 550,000, US$21 to US$33, and around IDR 550,000 to 750,000 for a van. Most Ubud hotels offer the same service, often at the top of that range.
It makes the most sense in three cases: when you land late, when you are four with big cases, and when your hotel sits down a lane that a Grab driver has never heard of. It also buys you a stop. Ask and most drivers will pull over at Tegenungan waterfall, ten minutes off the route, or at the silver shops in Celuk.
Pre-booked, price fixed per car
Private transfer from Bali airport to Ubud
- ✓Driver meets you inside the arrivals hall with a name board
- ✓Flight tracked, so a delay or a slow immigration queue costs you nothing
- ✓Door to door to any hotel or villa in the Ubud area, at any hour
Affiliate link. Booking through GetYourGuide costs you nothing extra and supports the guide. Price and rating checked September 2026. Both move with season and demand.
This is a partner link. Booking through it costs you nothing extra and supports the guide.
Is there a bus from Bali airport to Ubud?
Yes, but not one you want after a long flight. The Trans Metro Dewata public buses cost IDR 4,400 a ride and reach Ubud with two changes, on corridor K2B from the airport, then K1B and K4B via Ubung terminal. Count about three hours, and they stop running in the evening. The Kura-Kura tourist shuttle costs around IDR 100,000 and runs a few times a day between Kuta and Ubud, but it does not stop at the airport: you walk about fifteen minutes with your luggage to pick it up.
Both make sense for a backpacker travelling light in daylight who would rather spend the US$20 on dinner. For everyone else, the car wins.
What is the best way to get from DPS to Ubud?
Four common ways to arrive, and the ride that fits each.
A couple landing mid-morning with two cases
Grab. The cheapest car, the roads are moving, and ten minutes of walking to the pickup zone is no hardship in daylight. Budget about US$20.
Anyone landing after 10pm
A pre-booked transfer, or the taxi counter if you did not book. Grab surges to the same price and still makes you cross the car park. A driver who has watched your flight since take-off is worth a few dollars at midnight.
A family of four with big suitcases
A private transfer in a van or a large car. A standard Grab will not take the luggage, the XL is hit and miss at the airport, and the counter minivan costs as much as a booked car.
Solo, travelling light, no rush
Grab in the day. The public bus if you are on a real shoestring and it is before mid-afternoon, knowing it takes three hours and two changes.
Five or more, or carrying surfboards
A pre-booked van, not two Grab cars. No Grab car takes a surfboard, and splitting a group across two cars means two pickups and two arrivals down an Ubud lane. Expect IDR 550,000 to 750,000 for a van, and mention the surfboards when you book.
Bali airport to Ubud at night
Most flights from Australia land between 9pm and 1am. The drive is the easy part.
At night the road is the fastest it ever is: 50 minutes to an hour from the kerb to central Ubud. What goes wrong is everything around it. Arrivals from Australia bunch up late in the evening, so immigration is at its slowest just when you are at your most tired, and the Grab surge kicks in at about the same time.
The bigger problems wait at the other end. Many small hotels and homestays in Ubud close reception at 9 or 10pm. Villas in Penestanan, Sayan or Keliki sit down lanes with no lighting and no name on Google Maps, and a Grab driver who does not know the area will drop you at the nearest road.
If you land after midnight with small children, a first night near the airport in Jimbaran or Sanur and a morning drive up is kinder to everyone. Leave by 9am and the road will still be moving.
Bali airport to Ubud with luggage
A standard Grab or taxi sedan takes two large suitcases and a couple of carry-ons, and not much more. Three people with three big cases is already a squeeze, and four is impossible. Book a GrabCar XL, ask for a minivan at the taxi counter, or say how many bags you have when you book a transfer, so the right car turns up.
Surfboards and bike boxes go in a van, full stop. No Grab driver will take them, and the counter charges extra. Most private transfer companies carry them for free if you mention them when you book.
Photo Sgroey, CC BY-SA 4.0
The last hundred metres in Ubud
A lot of Ubud accommodation is not on a road at all. Guesthouses off Monkey Forest Road and Jalan Hanoman, and most villas in Penestanan, sit at the end of a gang, a footpath too narrow for a car, sometimes with steps. The driver stops at the road and you walk the rest.
Ask the hotel before you arrive whether someone can meet you at the road to carry the bags. Most will. A soft bag with wheels copes with a stepped gang far better than a hard 30 kg case. Then drop the bags and walk down to the Sacred Monkey Forest, ten minutes from most central guesthouses, for a gentle first afternoon.
Ubud to Bali airport: when to leave for your flight
The same road in reverse, with a deadline at the end. Airlines ask for three hours at the terminal, and the drive has to fit before that.
| Your flight leaves | Leave Ubud | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 6am to 10am | 4 h 15 before | 8am flight, leave at 3.45am |
| 10am to 3pm | 5 h before | 1pm flight, leave at 8am |
| 3pm to midnight | 5 h 30 before | 7pm flight, leave at 1.30pm |
| After midnight | 4 h 30 before | 1am flight, leave at 8.30pm |
International flights, three hours at the terminal included. For a domestic flight, take an hour off.
The evening departures are the ones people miss. Leaving Ubud at 3pm means meeting the 5pm jam on the bypass, and the last 10 km into the airport can take as long as the first 27. For any flight after 3pm, be on the road before 2pm, and have lunch at the airport if you are early.
Going back, Grab is easy to book from your hotel door and costs about the same as the trip out. Book it thirty minutes ahead for a pre-dawn departure, when fewer drivers are online in Ubud. Your hotel can also book a driver for around IDR 350,000 to 450,000. For where to stay so the airport run is shorter, see the Ubud guide: the southern villages, Mas and Peliatan, save you twenty minutes each way.
Bali airport to Ubud: the questions people ask
Answers as at September 2026. Fares move with fuel prices and demand, so treat every figure here as a range, not a quote.
